Time is Always Ticking
by Haneko Petals
Summary: Sorry about my previous entry! Ec Spoilers! First FF:Holly's depressed and when she checks on the Fowl manor, no one is there. As she checks previous footage, shes in for a terrible surprise. Mud Boy's in the hospital. Not very good at summaries or ti
1. Depression

Sorry if you just got a "k" before!  I'm new at this and I suck at computers!!!!  Anyways, please please please tell me if I should continue with the story. 

Time is Always Ticking: Chapter One, Depression

            Captain Holly Short launched herself on her queen sized bed, exhausted.  Commander Root had kept her busy the past twelve months.  In those twelve months, she probably only got a total of three weeks worth of off-time. 

            Holly owned a quaint little apartment near the LEP headquarters, just in case Root and Foaly had one of their crazy middle of the night missions that just ended up being a drunk babbling about leprechauns and fairies.

            Half of Holly was mad at Root for giving her such a rough, busy time at work; the other half was grateful for the overworking.  Half of her hated coming home and being so exhausted that she fell onto her bed heavy with exhaustion; half of her love that she had no time for straying thoughts.  Tonight would have been no different had she not smelled the piece of charred toast leftover from that morning.

            As usual, Holly was running later, though later than normal that morning.  Grudgingly, Holly forced herself from the comfy mattress to go clean up the toast that could very well be passed as charcoal briquettes. 

            As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, the motion sensor lights in her small kitchen picked up Holly's movements and flickered on.  The smell was profusely stronger there.

            "UGH! What a foul smell!"  Holly paused at one of the works she had just spoken.  "Fowl…," she whispered softly.  As soon as she spoke, Holly wished she hadn't. 

            _No! _ Holly thought fiercely, _I WILL NOT think of him!  Just relax, they'll fade away… hopefully._  Unfortunately for Holly, she was too exhausted from that days work to cope with the mental strain of holding the memories back.  Unconsciously walking into her small living room, Holly collapsed on the couch in a fit of tears.  This happened last time she had a break – that time for two days.  She just had too much time to lolly-gag on that fateful day at the Fowl manor twelve months ago.

            Holly still felt terrible about what she had to do to Artemis, Butler, and Juliet.  Over and over Holly told herself that she had just acted on Council's orders.  No matter how many times Holly told herself that, the other half would always come back saying that Holly could have disobeyed Council's orders.

            "That would have done no good to anyone if I refused to mind wipe him!  It just wouldn't have me that did it.  He would still not be able to remember me and still never would be able to!"  Tears poured down her face in remorse and despair as she thought of her favorite Mud Boy.   A couple of years ago, her old self would have never believed that she had become friends with a Mud Man, though she would never admit it aloud to anyone.  Artemis had changed that.  "Sure he could be a little snobbish, stuck-up even, but inside" (deep inside…) "There's still that shred of decency."  Holly surprised herself that she could see beneath the faults that she normally saw on other people and focus in on the good side of Artemis.  Exhaustion was tugging on Holly's eyelids; tears still poured in silent waves down her cheeks.  Sighing a deep sigh before sleep enclosed her, she murmured one word, "Artemis…"

            At the LEP Headquarters…

            "How can you stand listening to this, Julius!"  Foaly cried pulling out a third Kleenex and blowing loudly. 

            "For the last time Foaly, you are to refer to me as Commander!"  Root's typical roar was left at his house in his bed where he should have been at that hour of night. 

            "But that's not the point J- _Commander_! The point is that your top agent is suffering!  How can you let her suffer through all of this?!"  For dramatical effect, Foaly zoomed in on the snoozing, grief-stricken Holly with a camera and microphone hidden in Holly's apartment without her knowledge.

            Root's face softened for a split second as he saw Holly's form curled up in a ball on her sofa.  "It was ordered by the Elders," Root said calmly. 

            "Are we talking about the Council Julius? No! We're talking about Holly.  Can't that brain of yours comprehend that?"

            Root turned his trademark purplish color before hollering, "What was that Foaly?"  Foaly calmly wiped the sit off his face and rubbed his sore eardrums. 

            "It's a good thing this room is soundproof.  Nothing Commander.  Do you plan on any form of action?"  Root's 5'4" (A/N: Is that the right height?  My books are at a friends house) frame leaned over Foaly's desk and drummed his fingers close to a pair of buttons that could blow up Haven in a millisecond.  "Mind your fingers, Julius.  Any response?  Foaly asked zooming in on Holly's tear stricken face.

            Root gritted his teeth, "You should consider moving into a retail department, Foaly."

            Grinning like the idiot that he was (A/N: not that i don't love Foaly…), Foaly leaned back in his chair, "Where's the fun in that?  I'll prefer here thank-you-very-much."

            "Alright Let Holly take a day of Fowl watch.  Not that there's anything to  watch.  Let her know as soon as possible.  G'Night Foaly.  Wait good morning."

            "Night Julius."

            "Commander,"  Root replied sleepily.


	2. Shock

Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl, probably never will.

Thank you to all who reviewed.  It motivated me to get this second chapter out.  I'm going away to my cousins in Ohio till Monday, but there will be at least one chapter out on Tuesday!

Chapter Two:  Shock

            "WAKEY WAKEY!  A BUSY DAY AHEAD FOR YOU, HOLLY.  ROOT WANTS YOU AT HEADQUATERS IN ONE HOUR!!!"  Foaly's voice rang through Holly's apartment.  Instantaneously, Holly woke out of her troubled slumber.  With her vision still blurred, Holly wondered what the hell Foaly was doing in her apartment, let alone how he goy in.  She had one of the most expensive, effective locks money could buy, one very similar to that of Jon Spiro. 

            "Wha' you doin' 'ere Foaly?" Holly muttered, her voice still laden with sleepiness.  Soon following, Holly heard a snort. 

            "You actually think I would dare to go into your apartment?  No, I'm communicating with you via camera and microphone.  Tick tock!  You only have 58 minutes to get ready now."  Grumbling, Holly crawled off the couch

            _Typical Foaly and Root to invade my privacy.  Cameras.  They could just stick to microphones!  Oh well, now I know.  I better get ready or Root will have a fit-not that he doesn't have one everyday._  Holly walked away from the couch to go take a shower.  Before she left the room, Holly eyed the place where the most noise came from- where she thought the camera was. From experience, Holly knew she would not be able to see the camera.

            From Foaly's point of view, he saw the elf glaring a foot away from the actual location of the camera.  He gave a small snort before saying to Holly he would see her within the hour.

            In the warm relaxing shower, Holly felt herself drifting back to the odd dream she had the past night. Normally, Holly rarely ever remembered her dreams.  This one was different; it remained crystal clear in her mind.

                                                                                                                        (dream thing)

_            Artemis sat in a pure white room on a white bed with white linens.  Holly looked around the room and saw no windows, no doors, nothing.  "Do not bother looking Holly, there is no way out."  For the first time in the dream, Holly looked at the physical appearance of Artemis.  His blue eyes were dilated and seemed to have a filmy layer over them.  She was surprised at just _how_ pale Artemis was.  As long as Holly knew Artemis, he was always pale, but never this insipid.  The color of his ghastly skin almost made him blend in with the white walls surrounding him.  Though there was no aroma in the room, Holly could feel an air of uneasiness in the room.  _

_            "Artemis… what's wrong?"  Holly spoke with great worry in her voice as she took a small step towards the bed.  Artemis began coughing violently when she took that step.  At first the coughs were normal enough, but they rapidly became more violent and eventually blood came with them splattering the white linens.  Just the sight of the crimson blood on such whiteness made Holly's stomach do flip-flops and become queasy.  In between coughs, Artemis would struggle for breath.  The sight of Artemis's helpless form made her knees go weak; she wanted more than anything to help Artemis.  When she tried to move, it felt like her feet were super-glued to the ground.    "What's wrong?" Holly repeated.  Through his terrible coughs Artemis managed to speak._

_            "The details do not matter right now Holly.  All you need to know is that I need you now, more than ever."  Artemis swayed on the bed momentarily; Holly wanted to ask him what he meant by 'I need you now, more than ever' but she never got the chance.  Artemis's form became limp as he collapsed into unconsciousness.  Tears welled up in Holly's eyes at the sight of his body.  Now more than ever he wanted to help the Mud Boy, but her feet were still glued to the ground.  _

                                                                                                                          (end dream)

            "The dream seemed so real.  It didn't feel like normal dreams, too real.  It almost seemed that Artemis wanted to tell me some thing in the dream.  Maybe he already did," Holly wondered in the shower.  When she got out of the shower, the whole dream completely left her as she realized she had 15 minutes to be at work.  It took five to get there so she had ten minutes to get ready.  She threw on some clothes and grabbed her LEP equipment from the door and brought it into the kitchen.      She gulped down her breakfast (this time without cooking) and ran out the door. 

            By the time Holly got to Foaly's "office" (A/N: What would you call that?) Root and Foaly were already waiting for her.  Trying to catch her breath from sprinting nonstop for four minutes, she listened to what the Commander had to say.  "You're five seconds late Captain."  Holly looked up to glare at her superior.  "Anyways, we don't have a specific mission for you today.  I have decided to give you a break today and put you on Fowl watch.  Just report to Foaly if you see anything suspicious. He's a smart pony; he'll take care of it.  Now get to work.  Foaly, I want to see those files I asked for yesterday." "Sure thing, Julius."

            Holly's face grew red with anger.  "You made me race down to Headquarters just to tell me I'm on Fowl watch????  You're a bunch of slave drivers!"  Holly stomped out of the room.  She wasn't particularly angry, but the lack of sleep made her more touchy than normal.  She raged until she got to the room designates to keep watch of Artemis and Co.

            Back where Root and Foaly were, the second Holly had left, Root turned to Foaly.  "Bring up the camera where Holly is, and you are to tell me if anything's wrong with Captain Short." Root left the room.  When Root left the room, Foaly brought up the camera to see Holly slumped in a chair staring up at all the cameras.  "I wonder if this really is a good idea.  Something tells me it's going to make it worse," Foaly shrugged and continued his other work for that day.  

            Holly stared up at the 20 cameras on different screens.  "I feel bad for Artemis," Holly thought aloud.  As all the cameras zoomed around, Holly was reminded of all the times she had spent with Artemis- the good and bad.  One camera showed the hall where she was once imprisoned by Artemis himself.  She shuddered and wished she could forget those memories.  There were good ones too like where they planned the attack on Jon Spiro to get the C Cube back. (A/N: once again I do not have my books so if any of this information is wrong, I apologize).  As Holly felt sadness washing over her when she remembered Artemis, Juliet, and Butler could never remember any of this, something hit Holly.  There was not one Fowl or Butler in the whole Manor.  She scanned the ground to see if by any chance someone was there; no one was.   Before contacting Foaly, she checked the past footage of the Manor.  There was still no one in the house until she saw the whole Fowl family (A/N: haha!) and the Butler's leaving the Manor; Butler carrying a sick-looking Artemis in his arms.  She paused the tapes and contacted Foaly.  "Foaly, I think there's a problem." 

            "Foaly looked up from staring blankly at a report he was supposed to read.  It was very hard so early in the morning.  As he heard Holly's voice, he perked up.  "Oh really!  What is it?"

            "There's no one there."

            Foaly blinked a few times confused, "Huh?"

            "No one is at Fowl Manor.  I checked the past tapes and the whole family was taking an ill Artemis somewhere."  Holly had to try to keep her voice under control.  Her dream was beginning to scare Holly now that she saw what was really happening to Artemis. 

            Foaly got access to the tapes and looked them over.  "They're definitely gone.  I'll check where they are now."  As a second precaution, Foaly had placed a nearly invisible tracker on Artemis and the Butlers.  "They are at a hospital near Dublin.  Wow, a university one too. Must be serious."  From the screen showing Holly, Foaly could see she hadn't moved since she reported.  "Captain?  Holly?"   

            "I want to go see what's wrong with Art- Fowl."

            "I don't think Root will allow that though Holly."

            "Does he have to know?"

            Foaly was lost for words.  "The next flare to Ireland is in 10 minutes.  If you hurry you can make it." 

            Holly jumped up, "Thank you so much Foaly!  I'll give you a big bucket of carrots when I come back!"  Holly left the room at full speed and grabbed a pair of Hummingbird wings before going to the shoot.

            "Good luck, Holly"

Ireland…

            Holly had caught the flare just in time.  She was now shielded and flying towards the university where Artemis was located.  "Please be alright,"  Holly whispered under her breath.  It was a big risk flying over Ireland in the daytime, but Holly was willing to risk that just for the occasion.  After about an hour of flying, Holly began to see more populated cities and finally the university.  She spent the next half hour flying around trying to find the room where Artemis was.  The room was located on the third floor and currently had no one but a nurse and Artemis occupying it.  Very carefully, Holly opened the window.  The nurse was too occupied wrapping Artemis's arm with a bandage to notice.  When Holly shut the window, Artemis rolled over and the nurse looked up.  All she saw was a faint glimmering near the window.  She rubbed her eyes before returning to her work.  Holly let out her breath and dared to get a closer look at Artemis.  She could see nothing wrong except that he was deathly pale and he had a bandage on his arm.  _Must be from one of his crazy schemes.  Serves him right._  At that moment, the Butlers, Artemis's parents, and a doctor came into the room.  The doctor had the results of the tests done on Artemis.

            Holly flew into a corner of the room to listen to the results.  Mrs. Fowl had bags under her eyes and looked distressed, as much as anyone else in the room.  When the nurse was finished, the doctor pulled out a clipboard with Artemis's file on it. 

            "I'm afraid I have some bad news," the doctor said slowly. 

            _Just get on with it you stupid Mud Man!!!_

"As you know the blood around the infliction is not clotting.  Unless we find someway for his blood to clot soon, Artemis is as good as gone.  He's looking blood fast.  We need a miracle to save his life."  Up the corner of the room, two drops of water fell to the floor, apparently coming out of no where.

Yay! Done with that LONG chapter.  Please respond!!!


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